Process to 'replace' Hall at APSU starts Monday

You might say the process to select a new president for Austin Peay State University officially begins on President's Day.

That's when the new 21-member APSU Presidential Search Advisory Committee is scheduled to convene on campus for the first time.

In casual conversations with folks around town, it's a subject that many people prefer not to talk about a whole lot. We're all sort of living in denial, to be honest.

Why? Because selecting a new APSU president means we're going to be saying goodbye soon to one of the most popular presidents that the campus ever knew up to now, in Tim Hall.

It matters not whether you are an APSU alum, faculty member or current student. If you are a Clarksvillian, or northern middle Tennessean, Tim Hall touched your life in some way.

So now, the goal with the search for APSU's 10th president boils down to this: Find someone who can keep Hall's momentum going, for Austin Peay and the greater community it serves.

The advisory committee will meet at 12:45 p.m. Feb. 17 on the APSU campus in the Morgan University Center Ballroom. Campus and community members are also invited to an open forum to discuss the criteria and search process for the new president from 11 a.m. to noon on President's Day, also in the Morgan UC Ballroom.

Both the forum and the committee's first meeting are open to the public.

The search committee's charge is to identify three to five finalists for the position of president who will visit the campus for interviews. TBR Chancellor John Morgan will then consult with members of the committee and make a final selection for submission to the TBR for approval.

The committee includes a cross section of campus and community representation, as well as TBR and APSU alumni leadership.

The committee will work with executive search firm Greenwood/Asher & Associates to help identify a broad range of "highly qualified candidates from around the country," TBR recently said.

One of the committee's first tasks at the Feb. 17 meeting will be to decide on the schedule and process for identifying the finalists. Initial screenings of applicants are expected to begin in March.

The committee will be chaired by Robert P. Thomas, a TBR Board member, and includes several longtime Clarksvillians who are proven leaders and know what the community needs in an APSU president going forward.

The process will be in good hands.

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Process to 'replace' Hall at APSU starts Monday

You might say the process to select a new president for Austin Peay State University officially begins on President's Day.